


that moment when you feel yourself clicking with the rest of the team...

by audriel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, HQ Brofest Rookie Tier, Nekoma-centric, hqbrofest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 11:44:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10786104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audriel/pseuds/audriel
Summary: ...will put you in a state of euphoria that words can't even describe. - Kuroo TetsurouThe first times Kuroo, Yaku and Kai stepped on the same side of the court together.andthe last time they did.





	that moment when you feel yourself clicking with the rest of the team...

**First Year. Early Spring. First day. Nekoma Gymnasium.**

The first time they stepped on the same side of the court together was on their first day in the volleyball club. They were only first years, and newly accepted to Nekoma High School, wearing the assigned gym clothes as they stood in front of their senpais and introduced themselves.

There were only five first years interested in joining the club. Yaku was the only libero, Kuroo was the only middle blocker and Kai was one of the three wing spikers. They were only a setter short to make a team, which was where the second year setter comes in. Coach Naoi put them up against the starters in order to best assess their skill and ability. Naturally, having to face Nekoma’s best players right off the bat in their first day in the club would have intimidated the first years. However, only two of them reacted that way as they shuffled awkwardly towards their side of the court.

Kai remained placid and smiling, which would be later known to the other two that it was his default expression as he politely introduced himself to the older setter in their team. Yaku and Kuroo looked anything but anxious and intimidated, bright and eager at the challenge that the rest of the club members expected them to start chattering or bragging about their skills, especially considering their ambitious declaration to dominate nationals, but they did nothing of sort.

Kuroo rattled off his strength and weakness along with his preference and expectation with such a matter of fact tone that surprised all of them. His delinquent look made them wrongly assume he was incapable of being serious, up until Yaku declared that he would keep the ball up in the air and that they should not worry about defense, which Kuroo took as an offense and started a glaring and sneering match that Kai had to break up, unconsciously setting up the tone for their future interactions.

They were not expected to perform well against older and more experienced players in the team. They were made aware of it by the coach who hoped to get them to relax and play their best. However, Yaku and Kuroo had always been competitive and they took it as a challenge. It made them clash in the beginning as they were too intent to prove themselves, not to mention that they were previously on different sides of the net. Still, it became obvious to everyone how good of a libero Yaku was. He consistently managed to keep the ball in the air, despite his criticisms on Kuroo’s blocks. He had not been bragging as much as stating the facts.

For all the faces he made whenever Yaku criticized his blocks, Kuroo actually listened to the libero and adjusted accordingly to make follow up easier that Yaku’s eventually started to cheer for his successful blocks, which were growing in numbers as the game went on. Their defense was the strongest when Kuroo was in the vanguard to lead and set up the block. Under Kuroo’s direction, their blocks were more often than not effective in stopping their opponent’s attack.

Drawn to his fellow first years, Kai found himself supporting Yaku and Kuroo, whether to keep the ball in the air after Yaku saved the ball or to complete the two/three-man block Kuroo set up. It was also how he was the most aware of the opportunity to score of all wing spikers.

None of them could forget the moment when Kuroo’s block made the spike picked up perfectly by Yaku who sent it to their setter in a beautiful arch where Kai was in position to spike the ball before their opponent could react. They could remember the state of euphoria they were all feeling at that particular moment when they clicked together. It was what they remembered the most from their first game together despite their loss against their senpai.

It was a flawless teamwork between three first years who had never worked together before. It was the promise of many more in years to come with the three of them together.

**First Year. Summer. Training Camp. Fukurodani Gymnasium.**

The second time they stepped on the same side of the court together was during independent practice time in the Fukurodani Group training camp. They were already recognized members of the volleyball club, wearing Nekoma’s black and red training clothes.

Since that game in their first day, they hadn’t had the chance to play together again in the same team. Coach Naoi liked to mix the teams up whenever he set up practice games. Somehow the three of them never found themselves on the same side, even when they had 3v3 games. It was not for lack of trying.

It soon became obvious that that seniority mattered in the club. While the coach was impartial and judged them based on their skill, the older members of the club didn’t think the same. The first sign was their insistence of being called senpai, then of having the first years to complete most of the tasks in the club, which was relatively normal in any school extracurricular clubs. However, it stopped being normal when they abused their seniority by ordering them around and blaming them for everything that went wrong. The second years were the worst offenders.

The better players in the club were mostly third years, which meant that the second years had little chance to play in official matches. Thus, when first years joined up, they were not greeted with warm welcome, instead it was with wariness and suspicion. They saw the first years as a threat to their chances to play. Naturally, Kuroo and Yaku bore the brunt of their displeasure. It might be brewing at their innocent, but ambitious declaration, but it was their good performance against the third-years that cinched it.

The one-on-one practice sessions meant to foster better relationship between first and second years and helping both to develop their skills turned into a hellish time with little teaching and more finding faults by the second years, of which they could only endure silently until they were out of sight and hearing of their senpai. It was a common sight to see the three of them tucked together in the corner of their classroom venting their frustrations during lunchtime, the only time completely theirs. By the end of the day, they were too tired to even think to practice more.

The chance finally came in the joint practice with Fukurodani Group where they were given more freedom to do their own practice. It was how they got to know Bokuto, Konoha, Komi, Washio, and Sarukui from Fukurodani. Thanks to Kuroo hitting it off with the excitable and energetic Fukurodani first year, they managed to snag five-on-five matches with Fukurodani first years throughout the training camp.

In the beginning, their practice was a mess with the lack of setter and experience on both sides, but it was a learning experience nonetheless. Fukurodani was considered as one of the top high school volleyball teams not for nothing, even their first years were highly skilled and talented, Bokuto in particular.

Kuroo took great pride whenever he succeeded in stopping Bokuto’s spikes as much as Bokuto in getting through his blocks. Yaku and Komi made a competition between liberos who could make the most saves. Kai shadowed Konoha with their similar habit of finding the right position to support their teammates. They rarely won against the Fukurodani first years, but there were no hard feelings between them.

It was their first taste of friendly rivalry, which nothing like the toxic rivalry they experienced in their own team which brought up resentment instead of exhilaration that made them look forward to games where they were pushed to overcome their limits. It was the promise of many more such encounters with their rival.

**Second Year. Early Summer. Interhigh Qualifiers. Shinjuku-ward Gymnasium.**

The first time they stepped on the same side of the court together in official match was in the Tokyo Interhigh Qualifiers. They were second years and had won their spot in the team, wearing proudly the Nekoma red-black uniform.

Yaku had been the first to join the starting lineup since the second-years had no libero, playing in the qualifiers for Kantou tournament. They didn’t manage to get through to the tournament, but Kuroo performed well when he was given the chance to play that he became starter for Interhigh qualifiers.

Two second years in the starting lineup was already too many for their senpai, more so when they had proven themselves invaluable to the defense of the team. Yaku’s receiving skills were widely (and grudgingly) acknowledged as the best, and Kuroo was pretty close second, then there was their teamwork when Kuroo touched or narrowed the path of opponent’s spike for Yaku to easily pick it up. Even the older members could see that whenever Kuroo was in the front and Yaku was in the back, their opponents could barely score. What they failed to see was how that was the result of constant practice, of putting hours of extra practice when everyone had left and gone home.

The training camp with Fukurodani Group had opened their eyes of how much they were lacking and how much work to be done for them to catch up with their rivals. They all looked for ways to improve and started to do additional practice after club hours now that they had better stamina and no longer easily tired.

Initially they were joined by their fellow first years, but eventually there were only three of them. There was only so much they could do with their limited number, but they made do with what they had, even went as far as using their time outside club discussing strategies and techniques best suited for them.

It was how they found out that Kuroo had keen eye for details and sharp mind for strategy not only on the court but also off the court with how thoroughly he analyzed not only each player but also the team as whole. It was also how they found out about Kenma before they actually met him.

The new semester brought along new members to the club. One of them was a small, quiet first year who could barely look anyone on the eyes, but was a surprisingly good setter despite his poor stance. Both Yaku and Kai knew why Kuroo was worried, Kenma was an easy target for their senpai. Kenma was not the only one they were worried about, there were Fukunaga who barely spoke at all and Yamamoto who was too loud and energetic for his own good.

They had taken themselves to look after the first years and make sure they knew that they could come to them if they needed anything. As they expected, the three first years had it worse than the rest of new members and worse than when they were first years now that the third years had all the power.

Kenma nearly quit if it wasn’t for Kuroo convincing him. Fukunaga and Yamamato were tougher than they looked that they didn’t consider quitting, but the three first years wisely chose to stick to Kuroo, Yaku and Kai, which indirectly had them joining their elders’ extra practice and helped to improve the second years’ performance, having proper setter and more wing spikers did wonders however reluctant and rough they were.

It was how that Kai was chosen over third year wing spikers, when one of the starters sprained their ankle in the middle of the match, with his calm disposition and match readiness, Kai was Coach Naoi’s first choice.  When Kai stepped on the court, neither Kuroo nor Yaku said anything but as Kai took his position and they all faced forward, they all wore matching smiles. They had waited for this moment, for the three of them to be on the same side of the court together again, and it felt _right_.

They moved with the same ease that they had in their first time playing together as though it hadn’t been more than a year since then. When Kai jumped to spike the ball from the chance Kuroo and Yaku gave the team, all he could see and hear was the proud looks and cheers of Kuroo and Yaku before the ball landed on the other side of the court. The elation and satisfaction they all felt brought them back to their very first teamwork, to their first taste of promise of many more moments like it to come.

It no longer felt like a distant promise anymore.

**Second Year. Early Autumn. Spring High Qualifying Round. Sumida-ward Gymnasium.**

The first time they stepped on the same side of the court together from the very beginning of the match was in the first match in the Qualifying Round for Spring High. They were second years and the oldest of the current members of the team, wearing different red-back uniform they wore last for their first official match together. For they were the ones wearing the numbers one to three on their backs instead of their senpai.

The summer brought changes to the club, most importantly bringing the legendary Coach Nekomata back into the club he helped raise into fame. He was nothing like they expected, he looked like someone’s playful and carefree grandfather. His approach was more casual and relaxed, giving them more freedom in practice and acting more like a facilitator than a coach. They could come up to him and ask the kind of practice they wanted and he would give them suggestions.

Some of the third years foolishly took advantage of it by slacking off only to find out that Coach Nekomata earned his reputation for a good reason. Behind his smiling face, he had been closely watching and evaluating them, nothing escaped his notice. This successfully kept the third years in line, unwilling to lose their spot in the lineup, which was a relief for the younger members of the club as it put pressure off them. They ended up taking up Nekomata on his offer with Kuroo as their spokesperson since he was the only one who had any idea of how the team was and what the team needed.

Since they were the only ones who were showing initiative, the coach based club’s practice on their request and involved more of the first and second years in practice games when before they were kept away from playing until their basic skill were up to par. The third years were displeased, but they kept it to themselves. It was until the training camp with Fukurodani where less and less third years played in practice games that by the last day the Nekoma team was consisted of two third years, three second years, and two first years that third years finally made their dissatisfaction known.

On the first day of their return from the training camp, the third years collectively handed their resignation from the club with made up excuses. If they expected Nekomata to stop them and ask them to stay, they really didn’t know him at all. He simply accepted their excuses and thanked them for their dedication and hard work. He wouldn’t keep anyone who wouldn’t want to stay. As satisfying as it was watching the third years realized the mistake they made and left the gym with their heads down, it didn’t change the fact that their resignation meant losing half of the club members, leaving barely enough of them to play in tournaments.

Nekomata calmly gathered them and put things into order, starting from asking the remaining members who the new captain would be. The third years never talked about it, but they all knew who was best for that position, who had laid the foundation of the team and held them together and kept them going as a team. It could only be Kuroo.

It had been unanimous and the easiest decision they made, along with the decision to make Kai the vice-captain. It was what followed after that wasn’t easy because all of them had to learn how to play as a team when they previously weren’t given a chance to.

Regardless of their readiness, the coach signed them up for Spring High Qualifying Round. So here they were, a newly formed team whose members were in various degree of nerves and agitation for their first official match together until their new captain gathered them around and made an embarrassing, if not cheesy chant about them being blood, flowing smoothly and circulating oxygen in order for brain to function normally that somehow worked to set them at ease.

When they finally stepped on the court, it only dawned to them that this was the first time they would be playing together on the same side from the very beginning outside practice games. This had been the moment they had waited for so long, and for a while, they didn’t know what to do with the realization until Yaku kicked Kuroo and Kai at the shin, putting into perspective that it was no dream. It was not just a distant promise anymore. It was here and it was up to them to make it stay.

It was just their first step into fulfilling the promise.

**Third Year. Winter. Spring High. Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.**

The first time they stepped on the same side of the court together as Tokyo representatives was on the first day of Spring High. They were already third years, and were veterans of high school volleyball competitions, wearing the red-black uniform of Nekoma with pride and confidence.

They had earned this chance to finally stand among the best players and teams from all over Japan. They had fought long and hard, biding their time until they were ready to challenge and to _win_ against the other teams for the coveted spot in the Nationals.

They had slowly but surely grown into their roles as the foundation of the team. They remained as the constant, as the steady pillar so that their kouhai could grow and learn as players and they could all learn together how to be a team through the countless matches they all played together. They were the triangle that made Nekoma: Kuroo, their captain and leader, Kai, their vice-captain and anchor, and Yaku, their libero and guardian. They taught, they encouraged, they helped, they listened, they understood, they believed, they all became the senpai they had needed and wanted when they were first years. For that, their kouhai listened and looked up to them.

Their last year and their last chance for Nationals began with the revival of old rivalry between Nekoma and Karasuno as they were invited for a practice match in Miyagi. Within Karasuno, they found not only a worthy rival but also kindred spirit. They saw themselves in the newly formed Karasuno team with their rough and unpolished players and teamwork. They saw themselves in the third years, Sawamura, Suga and Azumane in their conviction and determination. They saw their own kouhai in Karasuno's first and second years, in their brilliance and promise. It was like looking into a mirror.

They couldn't help reaching out, wanting to help and pull them up, believing that they would bring each other up into greater heights and helping the other was helping themselves. It was Kuroo who first realized it, when he shook his hands with Karasuno's captain and later when he saw the exchange between Kenma and the short middle-blocker. Yaku was next as he talked with their vice-captain and met with their brilliant libero. Kai didn't take long to notice the forming of friendship and rivalry between the players and the team. It gave them more reason to fight, to become better. It gave them another promise to look forward to, the promise of the battle of Trash Heap in the Nationals.

Having a rival such as Karasuno was both a blessing and a curse with their potential and speed for growth, their constant change and evolution. Despite having more win over them in practice games, Karasuno managed to win against Shiratorizawa, the powerhouse team that consistently represented Miyagi in Nationals and was ranked among the top 8 volleyball club in Japan and had the super ace Ushijima when they barely scraped by a win against Nohebi and lost straight two sets to Fukurodani. They knew it would be difficult to tell who would win if they were to finally meet and have the long-awaited battle of Trash Heap. It was something to look forward to.

But in the end, for them what mattered most was to prolong the time they had left to stand on the same side on the court together and to experience more of those moments when they clicked together, when they meshed their strengths together and acted as single, cohesive unit, when they all felt the indescribable state of euphoria.

It was no longer a promise. It was the living and reliving of the promise.

*

*

*

**Third Year. Late Winter. Graduation. Nekoma Gymnasium.**

The last time they stepped on the same side of the court together was on their last day in the volleyball club. They were no longer third years, having already received their diploma in the graduation ceremony, wearing the red-black training clothes as they stood in front of their kouhais who were for once completely solemn and silent.

They didn’t manage to dominate Nationals like they had proudly and innocently declared as first years in the very same gym, but they did get to Nationals, which was beyond their wildest dreams considering all the trials and difficulties they had to endure. They all owed it to their kouhai who made it possible in their last gamble. After the dust cleared and settled, they still came by to help with the club whenever they could even though they were no longer officially members. They didn't consider their duty and responsibility to their team and kouhai done until they truly and well graduated from Nekoma High School and unable to attend their practices anymore. Their kouhai understood this and took advantage of the opportunity granted to them, soaking up all the lesson and advice they could give. None of them mentioned of the looming shadow, pretending time was not running out.

So finally the dreaded day came, with the younger members of the volleyball club watching their role models and leaders walk up to receive their diploma signifying the end of their time in high school and in the club. They all managed to hold on to their composure with the promise of still seeing them after the ceremony.

Kuroo, Yaku and Kai took their time to walk towards the club, taking their time to change into their practice clothes in silence, knowing that this would be their last. They were going to different universities in different cities. They might or might not continue playing volleyball in their university. They hadn’t quite decided yet. However, one thing for certain, they would no longer play on the same side of the court together again, at least not in official match. If they were to meet again on the court, it would be on different sides of the net. This was it for them. This was their last time playing together on the same side and they would make use of the time they had to the fullest.

Without prior discussion, when they stepped into the gym and faced their kouhai, the three of them came into agreement. They challenged their kouhai into 3v3 match where the losing team would keep reshuffling its players so the team would never be the same until they finally managed to beat the third years two-times in a row.

It sounded like a simple challenge and should not be too difficult, considering Yaku was a libero and neither Kuroo nor Kai was a setter. However, they forgot, before there were Lev, Inuoka and Shibayama, before there were Kenma, Yamamoto and Fukunaga, there was only Kuroo, Yaku and Kai. They had learned to play together as team before they all had become a team. They were Nekoma _before_ there was Nekoma.

One, two teams managed to snag a win, but only for them to take the next one. It went on that way with the three of them standing firmly and solidly on their side of the court, moving with the ease and flow that the younger ones unable to achieve yet. In the end, it was the team of Kenma, Yamamoto and Fukunaga who managed the feat. The only three-man team that had more experience working and playing together than they were.

It was why they kept the second-years from teaming up early on to give the others a chance to watch and learn, to see and experience by themselves that Nekoma was a team founded upon teamwork. It was their wish that they would find and relive that moment that started and kept them going all these years. It was their last lesson and advice to their kouhai.

By the end of their speech, there was no dry eyes in sight as they huddled together in the middle of the gym with Kuroo, Yaku and Kai giving personal encouragement to each and every one of their kouhai. When the day was finally over, dusk saw three figures walking together side by side and stopping in an intersection. They turned towards each other, their eyes red and puffy, but their smiles were bright and earnest. They had accomplished what they had set out to do. They had no regrets. The promise had been fulfilled.

So they parted ways, with the promise to meet again.

It was not the end, not for them, never for them, who had stepped on the same side of the court together.

**Author's Note:**

> Confession time: Nekoma is my favorite team after Karasuno and Kuroo is my favorite non-Karasuno character. Oddly, they didn't catch my immediate attention like Seijou and Oikawa did, but once they did, I found myself intrigued by their team dynamics and personalities. For all the obvious similarities with Karasuno, as though they are meant to be their mirror image, there cannot be a team more different. 
> 
> When I looked up Nekoma’s lineup, I found out it odd that the player that had number seven (Inuoka) and twelve (Shibayama) were both first years. Because based on the numbering trend, which usually was based on seniority, meant that Nekoma only had three third years, three second years, and _six_ first years (assuming there are only 12 players). It makes me suspect that the bullying Kenma endured might not be an isolated incident, and it drives away the other third years and second years until Kuroo, Yaku and Kai (and Nekomata) takes over which leads to more first years joining and staying in the club, including newbie Lev. This theory might be debunked if we see former Nekoma senpai appearing to cheer on the team in Nationals like Karasuno former captains do, but as it is, this theory stands.
> 
> This story can be said as a study of Nekoma and its third years who not only opened the path but also laid down the foundation of the team for their underclassmen.
> 
> Thank you for reading! <333


End file.
